What can a hackerspace do to help self learners?
I would like to hear suggestions people have for how to use a physical space and non-technical staff to help people taking the Stanford classes or signed up for codeyear.org be more successful.
One thing I have to say is, I think it's important to encourage interaction. My primary goal of going was to make connections with people. I would go, there would be maybe ten people there, and everyone was plugged in to headphones and I think I actually spoke with people a small hand full of times. The times I did, I approached them and was treated as an intrusion.
Of course, it's very possible I was an intrusion and they wanted to be left alone, or I approached them in the wrong way, who knows?
Anyways, this turned in to a bit of rambling, and I'm not positive I've helped at all, but... Hopefully I did.
I would love to see some kind of skills exchange enter the equation so everyone feels like they can contribute. Hackerbuddy.com tries to do this virtually, but I could see the physical world giving this idea plenty more oomph.
Hope that's helpful.